New Statesman on defunct monarchies

Endorsement definitely not implied. An irritatingly snarky, irreverent article (not surprising from this source, which can't even spell "Prince Philip" correctly) that I nevertheless can't ignore. These claimants and many more are exactly what the world needs. It's not pleasant to be continually reminded of how much contempt fashionable opinion has for my most deeply felt beliefs. If I occasionally raise eyebrows by straying into other issues, it's partly because I can't stand it that these days monarchism is more likely to be ridiculed than denounced.

Enemies of Monarchy, Heroes of Modernity

I sometimes find it depressing how in so many countries, even non-Communist ones, men I despise are widely and even officially revered:

United States: Thomas Paine (1737-1809), Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), and other "Founding Fathers"
France: the leaders of the French Revolution in general, though it's interesting that no individual is really singled out
Poland: Tadeusz Kościuszko (1746-1817)
Hungary: Lajos Kossuth (1802-1894)
Mexico: Benito Juarez (1806-1872)
Italy: Giuseppe Garibaldi (1807-1882)
Czech Republic (whose very name is offensive): Tomáš Masaryk (1850-1937), Edvard Beneš (1884-1948)
Greece: Eleutherios Venizelos (1864-1936)
Ireland: Eamon de Valera (1882-1975)
Egypt: Gamal Abdel Nasser (1918-1970)

Even in England, Oliver Cromwell (1599-1658) still has a much better reputation than he deserves, with that disgusting statue outside Parliament.

That's how it is when one is on what the world considers to be the "wrong side of history"...

Royal weddings in Turkey and Monaco

In a rare marital alliance between two prominent non-European royal families, Prince Muhammad Ali of Egypt, Prince of Sa'id, son of King Fuad II, married Princess Noal Zaher of Afghanistan, granddaughter of King Zahir Shah (and therefore cousin & niece respectively of the two Afghan princes I had met several days earlier), in Istanbul on Friday. In this picture the groom's father, who reigned as an infant 1952-53 and is still for monarchists Egypt's legitimate head of state, escorts his new daughter-in-law and son.

The following day, August 31, Andrea Casiraghi, son of Princess Caroline of Monaco (and eventual successor to the throne if his uncle Prince Albert II and Princess Charlene remain childless), married heiress Tatiana Santo Domingo. The couple already have a son, Sacha, born in March, who with his parents' marriage now becomes third in line to the throne.

Congratulations to both couples.

Princess Fawzia of Egypt (1921-2013)

HRH Princess Fawzia of Egypt, daughter of King Fuad I (sister of King Farouk, aunt of King Fuad II) and first wife of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi of Iran, died yesterday at the age of 91. She will be buried in Cairo. As Egypt undergoes yet more turmoil with the military ouster of President Morsi today, one more link to an era when Egyptians enjoyed relative stability and liberty is gone. Egypt and Iran are still paying the price for the ouster of her brother & nephew and husband respectively.

A Royal Solution for Egypt

Ever seeking to be helpful, I have a solution for Egypt now that its three leading presidential candidates have been disqualified by the electoral authorities: restore King Fuad II. The much-maligned Kingdom of Egypt (1922-53) was a golden age for Egyptian Christians (descendants of the original Egyptians) who were safer then than they have ever been since. Who needs presidential candidates anyway?

Princess Neslisah Sultan (1921-2012)

I do not generally consider the Ottoman Empire (1299-1923) to have been among history's finest examples of monarchy, but am nevertheless sorry to learn of the death of the last member of the imperial family to have been born before the fall of the Empire. Princess Neslisah, as the wife (from 1940) of Prince Abdel Monem of Egypt (1899-1979; Regent 1952-53 for the infant King Fuad II), was also involved in the final years of the Egyptian monarchy and thus held the dubious distinction of having been exiled by two different anti-monarchist revolutions. The Turkish Prime Minister was gracious enough to praise the princess, last of the Ottomans, as "the poster-child for nobleness who carried the blood of Osman. We remember her with high regard and our blessings."

Middle Eastern developments

With Egypt in turmoil, this September 2010 profile of its rightful ruler is worth re-reading. I am no apologist for the Egyptian regime (itself the heir of the 1952 revolution against King Farouk), but doubt that its fall would lead to anything better. Unfortunately, in a country where 84% of the public reportedly believe in executing converts from Islam to Christianity, "Democracy" may be more likely to lead to an Islamic theocracy than a restoration of the monarchy. However, one can always hope...long live King Fuad II!

Meanwhile, in a response to similar protests in Jordan, King Abdullah II has dismissed the prime minister and appointed a new one. So far there appears to be little opposition to the Jordanian monarchy itself, but it is an uncertain time throughout the Middle East, even more so than usual.

The current wave of protests began in Tunisia, which like Egypt abolished its monarchy in the 1950s, as if more proof were needed that revolutions only lead to more problems. With the American government continuing to trumpet "Democracy" as the solution to all ills, it seems that neither the West nor the peoples of the Middle East have learned anything from history. Past upheavals like the 1979 Iranian Revolution didn't exactly turn out well for "Human Rights." Tunisia should restore King Mohammed X and Egypt King Fuad II, but that would be far too sensible. Apparently the world would rather babble about "Democracy" while radical Islam surges ahead.

WSJ on Ahmed Fouad II

The Wall Street Journal profiles Egypt's King Ahmed Fouad II, who reigned briefly as a baby in 1952-53 following the ouster of his father King Farouk (1920-1965). The image of Egypt's monarchy has in recent years begun to recover from the propaganda of the Nasser regime. The King lives in Switzerland and apparently has not had a particularly happy life, though he points out with a hint of optimism that monarchy has worked beautifully for Spain.

There is one slight error in the article, which says that "King Constantine II of Greece fled his country in 1967 when the junta abolished the monarchy"; actually the junta did not get around to that until 1973, with Constantine nominally remaining king while in exile for six years.